William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet: Color Illustrated, Formatted for E-readers William Shakespeare

Publisher Marketing: Unabridged & Original version with all 262 pages Includes: 15 Illustrations and Biography The play Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but, to expand the plot, developed supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. This text was of poor quality, and later editions corrected it, bringing it more in line with Shakespeare's original. Shakespeare's use of his poetic dramatic structure, especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play. Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical and opera. During the English Restoration, it was revived and heavily revised by William Davenant. David Garrick's 18th-century version also modified several scenes, removing material then considered indecent, and Georg Benda's operatic adaptation omitted much of the action and added a happy ending. Performances in the 19th century, including Charlotte Cushman's, restored the original text, and focused on greater realism. John Gielgud's 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeare's text, and used Elizabethan costumes and staging to enhance the drama. In the 20th and into the 21st century, the play has been adapted in versions as diverse as George Cukor's comparatively faithful 1936 production, Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version, Baz Luhrmann's 1996 MTV-inspired Romeo + Juliet and the 2013 non-Shakespearian adaptation by Carlo Carlei. Review Citations: School Library Journal 01/01/2010 pg. 130 (EAN 9780764162442, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2010 pg. 82 (EAN 9780764162442, Hardcover) School Library Journal 01/01/2010 pg. 130 (EAN 9780764142772, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2010 pg. 82 (EAN 9780764142772, Paperback) Kirkus Review - Children 03/15/2007 pg. 281 (EAN 9780810993259, Paperback) Voice of Youth Advocates 04/01/2007 pg. 84 (EAN 9780810993259, Paperback) Booklist 03/15/2007 pg. 56 (EAN 9780810993259, Paperback) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2007 pg. 488 (EAN 9780810993259, Paperback) ALA Best Books Young Adults 01/01/2008 pg. 1 (EAN 9780810993259, Paperback) Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/2009 pg. 492 (EAN 9780810993259, Paperback) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2011 pg. 600 (EAN 9780810993259, Paperback) Booklist 08/01/2006 pg. 77 (EAN 9780735820906, Hardcover) School Library Journal 12/01/2006 pg. 164 (EAN 9780735820906, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2007 pg. 31 (EAN 9780735820906, Hardcover) School Library Journal 11/01/2005 (EAN 9781402206443, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Library Journal 12/01/2005 pg. 130 (EAN 9781402206443, Hardcover) Ingram Advance 10/01/2005 pg. 140 (EAN 9781402201011, Paperback) School Library Journal 11/01/2005 (EAN 9781402201011, Paperback) - *Starred Review Library Journal 11/15/2005 pg. 107 (EAN 9781402201011, Paperback) Library Journal 12/01/2005 pg. 130 (EAN 9781402201011, Paperback) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2006 pg. 72 (EAN 9781402201011, Paperback) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2007 pg. 492 (EAN 9781402201011, Paperback) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2011 pg. 606 (EAN 9781402201011, Paperback) Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2005 pg. 80 (EAN 9780300104530, Paperback) School Library Journal 09/01/1999 (EAN 9780754050889, Analog Audio Cassette) School Library Journal 05/01/1993 pg. 121 (EAN 9780679838746, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1993 (EAN 9780679838746, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2007 pg. 492 (EAN 9780140714845, Paperback) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2011 pg. 606 (EAN 9780140714845, Paperback) Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2011 (EAN 9789380028583, Paperback) School Library Journal 09/01/2011 pg. 188 (EAN 9789380028583, Paperback) Booklist 06/01/1993 pg. 1869 (EAN 9780679839132, Video, VHS Format) Library Journal 10/15/1998 pg. 113 (EAN 9780140867725, Analog Audio Cassette) Contributor Bio:  Shakespeare, William Keith Hale is author of the novels Clicking Beat on the Brink of Nada and Letters to a Shooting Star. He has edited an anthology of gay literature from antiquity through the First World War (Ode to Boy), a collection of Lord Byron's love poetry for boys (Edleston), a collection of Rupert Brooke's letters that had been sealed for eighty years due to their homosexual themes (Friends and Apostles), a collection of Georgian Poetry, and editions of poetry by Shakespeare, Housman, and Brooke. Hale wrote the first and perhaps only account of gay life in the Balkans before the walls of Communism crumbled in his travelogue In the Land of Alexander, and he explored how the military's ban on gays affected the life of one ROTC cadet in his book Torn Allegiances. Hale is a native of Mayflower, Arkansas, and also has made his home in Austin, Amsterdam, and Guam. Contributor Bio:  Illustrator, Leonardo Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ, DL (22 May 1859 - 7 July 1930) was a Scottish writer and physician, most noted for his fictional stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction. He is also known for writing the fictional adventures of a second character he invented, Professor Challenger, and for popularising the mystery of the Mary Celeste. He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.